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WWDC 2010: Illusion Labs' Foosball HD
I finally got to meet up with the guys from Illusion Labs at WWDC last week. I've been writing about their apps for a little while (their most popular title is Touchgrind, but I really enjoyed Sway as well), so it was great to meet them in person and talk about what they've been up to on the App Store. Their latest app is Foosball HD, a very well-polished and intuitive foosball table for the iPad. It's their first original iPad venture (they brought Labyrinth and Touchgrind over right at launch), and they said that foosball was an idea that vibed well with their theme of making metaphorical games -- "we make more simulators than games," they told me. The app is clean and easy to play, and there are even little touches like projected shadows below the figures and some physics on the ball that Illusion was very proud to implement. The app's available now for US$2.99 as an introductory price. We also talked about social gaming networks, both third-party networks and Apple's Game Center. The developers said that they'd never been interested in adding third-party code to their apps, just because it usually required that they split branding, and that they couldn't integrate the UI in a way that appealed to them. They did admit that they were "more likely to use Apple's Game Center," but even so, their ideal solution is probably just to build something in-house rather than rely on anyone else. Finally, we chatted about handset compatibility, and how they'll react to yesterday's iOS 4.0 release. At the time we talked, they hadn't determined what to do yet, but they said that yes, they would probably end up dropping support for the first generation iPhone and iPod touch, just because it wasn't worth the trouble. Especially with the free updates, Illusion says it's a reasonable expectation for users to be upgraded from the original version. Again, very good to speak with them -- we'll look for more from this standout iOS developer in the future.
Mike Schramm06.22.2010
WWDC 2010: Brian Akaka of Appular
We last talked to Brian Akaka back at the Voices that Matter conference earlier this year, but both he and his company Appular were also at WWDC a little while ago. They've been busy. Hand of Greed, their first published title, has been released in an HTML5 version, allowing anyone with an iPhone to play it without downloading anything at all. And Appular has decided to publish two more titles: Attack and Destroy is a strategic combat game that has you leading cartoon units against bad guys, and iSlice, just released today, has you cutting of chunks of shapes to try and score as many points as possible. Both games are worth a look, and it sounds like Appular's publishing business is rolling along quite nicely. Follow the link below to see what Akaka had to tell us about creating a game in HTML 5, where these two new games came from, and what his team is looking forward to in iPhone 4 and beyond.
Mike Schramm06.21.2010
WWDC 2010: Server Admin Remote and Workgroup Manager Remote for iPad
One of the most technical, and yet powerful, apps I saw at WWDC last week was Server Admin Remote, an iPhone and iPad app designed by three guys in Germany calling themselves Harlekins. The app is modeled after Apple's own Server Admin tool for Mac OS X server, and basically allows for complete server administration right on the iPad or iPhone. All three developers from Harlekins are IT guys on their own, so they say that they've designed "a tool for IT staff, by IT staff." I don't have a lot of experience in server administration, but Server Admin Remote seems like a powerful tool. While most of the app is modeled after Apple's own tool (with Apple's blessing -- they've spoken with Apple's OS X server engineers, who told the guys that they were extremely impressed with the app), there are some parts of the program that are actually unique to the mobile version. You can not only browse various servers around the world, but you can view data for each server, check the logfiles remotely, and even do things like see the process lists or actually restart the server directly from the iPad app.
Mike Schramm06.18.2010
devsugar: WWDC 2010 videos, slides, and sample code now available
Paid members of the iOS developer program who did not attend WWDC may want to head on over to Apple's WWDC 2010 video page. Roughly a billion hours (if my quick calculations can be believed) of WWDC session video is now available for download from iTunes. You'll be able to find videos on topics from application frameworks to graphics to core OS topics to dev tools. Sample code and slides are also available. Please keep in mind that this material remains under NDA, so we will leave the content specifics as an exercise for the reader. Go enjoy your videos!
Erica Sadun06.17.2010
WWDC 2010: iZen Garden for iPad
Last week at WWDC, we met up with Jive DeVoe -- he's the developer behind the iZen Garden app for the iPhone, iPod touch, and, just recently, the iPad. The app purports to be a zen garden simulation, and it works as exactly that -- you can rake patterns in the sand, or put over 130 objects like stones, plants, or leaves on the ground and resize them as you like. In fact, everything in this app is "as you like." Rather than a directed experience, DeVoe called it a "coffee table app" -- something that you lay out on a coffee table, either with others or just on your own, and experiment with at whatever pace strikes you as right. He's added some features over time -- one of the most requested was a meditation timer, and so the iPad app comes with an option for background noise, as well as a timer that will stop or even put the iPad to sleep whenever you want. DeVoe's also put a few of his own little touches in the app: if you look closely at the screen while tilting it around, you'll see the shadows underneath the objects move with the accelerometer, a very subtle effect that you'll only notice if you look for it. DeVoe has played around with prices quite a bit since his app hit the store one day one way back when. He's been as high as US$7.99, and as low as $3.99 (which is where the iPhone version is currently set), and he decided to put the iPad app at $5.99. He doesn't want to go much lower than that -- at 99 cents, he says, there's more money to be made, but there's almost a stigma against pricing so low, as if a 99 cent app is somehow worth less, even if it's well-made. Plus, he told me, "at 99 cents you lose money until you hit the top 50." There are also lite versions available, with fewer objects to see, and none of the meditation timer functionality. iZen Garden is a cool metaphor app that does what it says on the box, and in the end, DeVoe says, that's what most of his users want. The App Store, for him, is a direct connection between "my customers and me."
Mike Schramm06.17.2010
WWDC 2010: GameSalad brings game creation to everyone
I've seen GameSalad around before (they had a big booth at this year's MacWorld, and we've mentioned them here on TUAW a few times), but I've never actually spoken to anyone who works for the Austin, TX based company. Fortunately, senior platform director Michael Herring found some time to come say hi at WWDC this week, and he spoke with me about the development system that hopes to bring iPhone and iPad app creation to everyone. He did walk me through the app quickly, but since it's a free download over on their website, you can go see it for yourself if you want. The idea is that you set up a series of "actors," and then you add a set of rules for those actors (what happens when they touch or get directions from the keyboard, etc.) that will eventually make up a full game. GameSalad doesn't actually require any coding knowledge, but Herring told me that it did require a little bit of know-how in terms of how games work. You can easily make a game system with the app (and even veteran developers often use it for quick prototyping), but to actually make a working game that people will want to play, you'll have to bring your own trial-and-error patience and balancing effort.
Mike Schramm06.15.2010
WWDC 2010: Hands-on with Max Adventure and interview with Imangi's Natalia Luckynova
Natalia Luckynova is half of Imangi Studios. Along with her husband Keith Shepherd, she makes iPhone and iPod games, including the popular Harbor Master and a few other titles. We got to meet up with her at WWDC last week, and she was able to show off their latest title, Max Adventure, due out for the App Store in just a few weeks' time. The game was heavily improved since I last saw it in action, and it's shaping up to be a quality dual stick shooter -- a little kiddy, but with a fun element of exploring a nice mix of environments and an actual story to follow. You can see the game above, and once you've checked it out, be sure to head after the break, where Luckynova tells us how the company's first iPad game is doing, what they think of iPhone 4 and iOS 4.0, and how she learned what a Kraken is.
Mike Schramm06.14.2010
WWDC 2010: Square's first steps
Square has already made a big splash with its launch -- the company, founded by Jim McKelvey, Jack Dorsey (formerly of Twitter), and Tristan O'Tierney, has created a system for accepting credit card payments through the iPhone. After a lot of secrecy and hype, the app launched on the iPad a while back. While the Square Reader (a little doohickey you can plug in the headphone port of an iOS device to swipe credit cards in) is still hard to find, we got one directly from O'Tierney himself at WWDC last week. It wasn't free -- he charged us a buck for it (and for the privilege of seeing a demo), taken by swiping my card through the reader, having me sign on the touchscreen, and emailing me a receipt in a process that was quick and painless. Well, mostly painless -- you have to hand it to a company whose demo is dependent on you giving them a buck. But I guess O'Tierney paid me back with his time -- you'll find an interview after the link below in which he tells me the weirdest use of the reader he's seen, what their biggest fraud issue has been so far, and what the company plans to do next.
Mike Schramm06.14.2010
WWDC 2010: Vito Technology walks on with Star Walk and Geo Walk
We met up with both Victor Toporkov and Murad Nazaraliev of Vito Technology during WWDC this past week, and while we know the company's name well from their great Star Walk and Solar Walk apps (the first one won an Apple Design Award this week, and the second one is quite popular, too), we learned some interesting facts about the history of the company. Toporkov now lives in the United States, but the company has its roots in Novosibirsk, the biggest city in Siberia. Back in the 1950s, Russia created a scientific center out in the middle of Siberia, consisting of a whole group of nuclear and scientific research facilities. Toporkov was one of those nuclear scientists, and now that the Cold War is over, he and many other scientists in that community have moved on to creating various kinds of software. In fact, the region itself is now sometimes referred to as "Silicon Forest," in a comparison with Silicon Valley in the US. I found that background fascinating. But of course, Vito is looking to the future -- after a couple of solid educational astronomy apps on the App Store, they're looking to come back down to Earth with Geo Walk. I first got to use this app back at Macworld Expo this year, but the latest version has come a long way, with lots of various nodes to browse around a 3D globe, featuring historical locations or individuals. The app is due out next week on the App Store, with an iPad version coming later in July, and Vito says they'll be pricing the app at just 99 cents -- it's meant for kids, and they're trying to find the lowest acceptable price possible.
Mike Schramm06.13.2010
WWDC 2010: Bartleby's Book of Buttons
Erica Sadun got a chance to see Bartleby's Book of Buttons a little while ago, and her writeup does a good job of explaining exactly what it is: an interactive book for children that uses the iPad's various features to entertain young users while also giving them a fun story to read and explore. Developer Kyle Kinkade also brought the work in progress to WWDC this past week, and we were able to see an updated build with a few new pages ready to read. "We wanted to make something that could only exist on the iPad," Kinkade told me. "As if someone had transported it back to 1937 and given it to Walt Disney" to see what he'd do. And indeed, the graphics are bright and clean, and the interactive features are both simple enough for a child to play with, but deep and varied enough to support multiple readings. Kinkade said the book was really designed for parents to read along with their children -- some of the text is a little tough for young readers, but rather than teach the kids to read, the object is to keep them interested, and help them to think about interacting with books in a new way. %Gallery-95005%
Mike Schramm06.12.2010
WWDC 2010: Interview with Moodboard developer Chris Nurre
I believe we've mentioned Moodboard exactly once on the site before, as one of Brett's picks back when the iPad first released. But it deserves another mention -- developer Chris Nurre of A Tiny Tribe (a company founded with a friend to help pay for skeleton equipment and travel) stopped by to see us at WWDC to both show off the app and let us know how is experience on the App Store has been going. While I'm not a designer (a mood board is a real designer's tool, kind of a collage of photos created to give inspiration or show direction), I was duly impressed by how the app has matured to fill out its space on Apple's tablet. Nurre got his app on the App Store the first day the iPad launched -- while he's also published a few iPhone apps, he wanted to try to get something right out of the gate with the bigger device, and Moodboard was it. He built the whole thing on a simulator without a real iPad, which itself is pretty impressive -- the app makes good use of multitouch to scale, size and move pictures, and he did a lot of option-clicking to simulate those in the SDK. The one thing he did have to change was a "long press" feature -- "it's a lot easier to keep a mouse still than a finger," he said, so that had to be adjusted once he actually got a device.
Mike Schramm06.12.2010
WWDC 2010: Firemint's app success
We've met up with the folks from Firemint before -- back at GDC, they were kind enough to show us Real Racing on the iPhone and share their plans for the iPad. Just a few months later we've found them at WWDC with the extremely popular Flight Control HD and an Apple Design award for Real Racing HD. When we talked with Firemint's community manager Alexandra Peters this week, she was quiet on their future plans. What they don't want to do, she told us, is put pressure on themselves. In addition to all of their success on the App Store, both of Firemint's apps are also playing on iPads in Apple Stores, and all of that exposure for their first iOS titles means whatever they do next has some big shoes to fill. Firemint is flattered by the Design Award, Peters told us, but she admits it "may have added even more pressure."
Mike Schramm06.11.2010
WWDC 2010: Matt Martel's reMovem 2
We're meeting all kinds of developers at WWDC in San Francisco this week; some from big companies with big resources (and stay tuned -- we're talking to a few of this week's Apple Design Award winners later on), and some hard-working, smaller groups. Matt Martel's Mundue is the second kind of developer. He makes the reMovem app; it's a simple little game that has you removing colored balls from the screen (in order) and trying to completely clear the board. The idea is simple and fun, but the app has grown extremely complex; it has been downloaded over 6 million times, and is now available in thirteen languages across several versions. Martel sat down this week to show off reMovem2, which is the iPad version of his app. The main difference, he told us, between the iPhone and iPad versions of the game is the screen size, but the fact that you've got more room to play with really opens up the gameplay. More balls to match can mean greater difficulty, but it also means larger scores. And though Martel started out with a single game mode, the iPad version incorporates four different modes, the option to add extra themes, a chance at in-app purchases, and, as he told me, lots of different opportunities with iOS 4 and Apple's upcoming Game Center.
Mike Schramm06.11.2010
WWDC 2010: In the Trenches with Thunder Game Works
Thunder Game Works kindly came by to meet up with us this week at WWDC, and Michael Taylor and Kris Jones of the company behind the popular Trenches iPhone game. They shared some insight about what they saw this week, offered us a chance to see concepts of the iPad version and check out a brand new title they're working on. What we saw was pretty impressive -- Trenches is a well-polished take on the castle assault genre, combining fun WWII-style troops and weapons with real-time line-drawing strategy. And Thunder is not only learning as they go, but seems very committed to taking their successful title and turning it into a full-fledged franchise on Apple's iDevices. The main game is on sale right now for 99 cents, and there's a free version (with some "training" features) also available. Between the two versions, the company has seen over 1.5 million installs of the game. Still, when the iPad came along, they had to think hard about whether or not they wanted to bring the game over. "We were very cagey about whether or not we wanted to go to the iPad," Taylor told me.
Mike Schramm06.10.2010
WWDC 2010: Show us your apps on June 10 and get a TUAW shirt
Tomorrow, June 10 (Thursday), yours truly will be camping out at the Metreon near the Moscone Center in San Francisco (Google map location here), specifically near Jillian's, in the little food court seating area (see pic, above). If you've got an app that you'd like to show the world -- and connect with our thousands of readers -- come say hi to us between noon and 5:30pm, and be prepared to show us your best! Also, the first twelve demos get a snazzy TUAW t-shirt, so that's nice, too. Come on down!
Victor Agreda Jr06.09.2010
Steve Jobs' WWDC10 keynote video is now live on Apple's site
Yeah, we liveblogged the hell out of Steve Jobs' keynote yesterday, but there are few things more charismatic than Apple's CEO in the midst of one of his ambitious product launches. And to feel it for yourself, you've either gotta be there or you have to watch the video -- fortunately, the latter is now available for consumption right now on Apple's website. [Thanks, Dilwar]
Vlad Savov06.08.2010
WWDC 2010: Beta 5 ready for download
Happy dub-dub everyone! The smell of new technology is in the air and we are practically breathless, we tell you, with happy anticipation. Already, Apple's Developer Site has begun its updates and we are just as excited as you are for the 4.0 Golden Master candidate and all the new developer goodies. Any particular changes you're looking forward to? Let us know in the comments... Update: Beta 5 (GM Release Candidate) is ready for download
Erica Sadun06.07.2010
iPhone 4: are you getting one?
Now that the dust is beginning to settle on Steve Jobs' WWDC10 keynote, we thought we'd ask the most pertinent question of all: who's buying this new hero mobile device from Apple? We know the company's loyal fan base will not disappoint, but what about you, undecided voter? Did that 960 x 640 IPS screen make you look upon Cupertino's wares with a new level of appreciation? And let us not neglect the iPhone's detractors here -- have they been placated by the inclusion of HD video recording, video chat and a meaty new A4 processor? Tick the appropriate box below, then visit us in the comments and let us know what you thought. %Poll-47657%
Vlad Savov06.07.2010
WWDC 2010: Bing coming to MobileSafari search
The rumor was partly true, Bing is indeed coming to the iOS search party; however, it will not be the default option as was speculated in January. During today's WWDC 2010 keynote address, Steve Jobs announced that Bing would be alongside Google and Yahoo as available search engine choices for MobileSafari. While it may seem insignificant, mobile search is a huge market that Google is currently dominating and it appears that Apple wants to put a little competition into the mix. While he wasn't gratuitous with his praise, Steve did say that he was impressed by Microsoft's implementation of their search engine in the browser. And no matter what Steve thinks, this additional option is a huge win for the Bing team at Microsoft. And hopefully a huge win for us, too -- competition in the search race will help out consumers a lot in the long run.
Aron Trimble06.07.2010
iPhone 4 vs. EVO 4G... fight!
If you put your ear up to the screen, you can hear these two beasts snarling at one another. Hit up the gallery for more shots, along with some iPhone 3G for good measure. Let's see how they stack up on the big stats, shall we? iPhone 4 EVO 4G Screen 960 x 640, 3.5-inch 800 x 480, 4.3-inch Thickness 0.37-inch 0.47-inch Primary camera 5 megapixel 8 megapixel Secondary camera VGA 1.3 megapixel Video chat FaceTime Qik Not enough for you? We'll have a big comparison of all the "majors" for you shortly. Now, there's a lot left to learn about Apple's FaceTime video chat service. For instance, they called it "open," but they also only mentioned a zero-configuration iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 calling setup. Meanwhile Qik can make calls between EVO 4Gs, but also stream video live to the web (while the iPhone needs to record and then upload to get "social" using its official apps). No mention was made of the FaceTime call resolution, but given the fact that the front camera is merely VGA, it's probably streaming at the same 640 x 480 that Qik is constrained to in the free service. However, a premium version of Qik for $5 a month lets you go beyond that resolution, using the EVO's higher resolution cameras. Perhaps the largest distinction is the fact that the EVO can stream video calls over 3G or 4G, while the iPhone 4 is constrained to WiFi for the time being. Naturally, we expect other video calling apps (Skype, please?) to crop up on both platforms and give these initial offerings a run for their money. %Gallery-94632%
Paul Miller06.07.2010